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AZERBAIJANI CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF OPPOSITION POLITICAL FIGURES
15:32, 5 March, 2013
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani civil society organizations
undersigned joint statement on the arrest of Republican Alternative
Movement chairman Ilgar Mammadov and Yeni Musavat newspaper journalist
and Musavat Party deputy chairman Tofig Yagublu. As reports Armenpress,
civil society organizations of Republic of Azerbaijan consider
the arrest of potential presidential candidate Ilgar Mammadov and
journalist Tofig Yagublu one month ago to be politically motivated
and call for their immediate release and withdrawal of the trumped-up
charges against them.
Ilgar Mammadov and Tofig Yagublu were sentenced to two months in
pretrial detention by a decision of the Nasimi District Court. They
have been accused of organizing the protests of Ismayilli on January
23. The protesters demanded the mayor's, Nizami Alakbarov, resignation
and set fire to a hotel belonging both to his nephew and the son of
the Minister for Social Protection, Fuzuli Alakbarov.
"At first, law-enforcement agencies and the government described
the Ismayilli protest as an exaggerated dispute caused by a traffic
accident, and a few days later they hastily accused the opposition
of organizing the protest in order to conceal the true causes of
the protest.
The absurdity of these allegations was emphasized by the visit of
the New Azerbaijan Party's leadership and MPs representing this
party to Ismayilli. The official reason given for the ruling party
functionaries' visit to Ismayilli was to ease tensions, while they
accused the oppositionists of trying to incite riots.
We are sure that the arrest of a potential presidential candidate
and a journalist of a leading opposition newspaper was aimed at
intimidating the opposition. Such steps by the authorities give
grounds to doubt that October's presidential election will be held
in free and fair conditions.
We therefore call on the Azerbaijani government to show the necessary
political will to carry out progressive reforms in the areas of freedom
of expression and assembly, which are very important with respect
to elections. We urge the government to immediately release Ilgar
Mammadov and Tofig Yagublu, as well as the other jailed journalists
and political prisoners.
We also call on the OSCE and the Council of Europe to pay closer
attention to what is happening in Azerbaijan and to urge the government
to abide by its human rights obligations and take other necessary
steps," claims in the statement.
According to the stataement, Mammadov and Yagublu went to Ismayilli
one day after the protests started- in the afternoon of January 24,
talked to local people in the presence of journalists, and asked about
the causes of the protests. They did nothing illegal there. On the
contrary, Yagublu performed his professional duties as a journalist,
and, as a public figure, Mammadov tried to learn the true causes of
the protests directly from the local residents themselves. In fact,
local residents were protesting against abuse of power. The protest
in Ismayilli culminated on the first day, which means the protests
were less intense on January 24 and then completely ended the next
day. The true cause of the mass public protest was the behavior of
relatives of Ismayilli's mayor, Nizami Alakbarov, who had insulted
the local people following a traffic accident.
At a meeting with ministers and high-ranking government officials,
the president Ilham Aliyev ranted about the ostentatious behavior
of government officials' children and oppression of entrepreneurs in
the regions, and demanded they stop such actions. Aliyev added that
if they continued to behave in this way, they would be arrested and
their parents would be dismissed from their positions. Several days
after this speech, the president issued a decree dismissing Nizami
Alakbarov as Ismayilli's mayor.
Relevant state authorities have already discovered and recorded a
number of business objects (real assets, buildings and land plots)
in the Ismayilli region belonging to Minister Fuzuli Alakbarov and
Mayor Nizami Alakbarov, and investigations are ongoing to find out
whether these properties were obtained legally or illegally.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
15:32, 5 March, 2013
YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani civil society organizations
undersigned joint statement on the arrest of Republican Alternative
Movement chairman Ilgar Mammadov and Yeni Musavat newspaper journalist
and Musavat Party deputy chairman Tofig Yagublu. As reports Armenpress,
civil society organizations of Republic of Azerbaijan consider
the arrest of potential presidential candidate Ilgar Mammadov and
journalist Tofig Yagublu one month ago to be politically motivated
and call for their immediate release and withdrawal of the trumped-up
charges against them.
Ilgar Mammadov and Tofig Yagublu were sentenced to two months in
pretrial detention by a decision of the Nasimi District Court. They
have been accused of organizing the protests of Ismayilli on January
23. The protesters demanded the mayor's, Nizami Alakbarov, resignation
and set fire to a hotel belonging both to his nephew and the son of
the Minister for Social Protection, Fuzuli Alakbarov.
"At first, law-enforcement agencies and the government described
the Ismayilli protest as an exaggerated dispute caused by a traffic
accident, and a few days later they hastily accused the opposition
of organizing the protest in order to conceal the true causes of
the protest.
The absurdity of these allegations was emphasized by the visit of
the New Azerbaijan Party's leadership and MPs representing this
party to Ismayilli. The official reason given for the ruling party
functionaries' visit to Ismayilli was to ease tensions, while they
accused the oppositionists of trying to incite riots.
We are sure that the arrest of a potential presidential candidate
and a journalist of a leading opposition newspaper was aimed at
intimidating the opposition. Such steps by the authorities give
grounds to doubt that October's presidential election will be held
in free and fair conditions.
We therefore call on the Azerbaijani government to show the necessary
political will to carry out progressive reforms in the areas of freedom
of expression and assembly, which are very important with respect
to elections. We urge the government to immediately release Ilgar
Mammadov and Tofig Yagublu, as well as the other jailed journalists
and political prisoners.
We also call on the OSCE and the Council of Europe to pay closer
attention to what is happening in Azerbaijan and to urge the government
to abide by its human rights obligations and take other necessary
steps," claims in the statement.
According to the stataement, Mammadov and Yagublu went to Ismayilli
one day after the protests started- in the afternoon of January 24,
talked to local people in the presence of journalists, and asked about
the causes of the protests. They did nothing illegal there. On the
contrary, Yagublu performed his professional duties as a journalist,
and, as a public figure, Mammadov tried to learn the true causes of
the protests directly from the local residents themselves. In fact,
local residents were protesting against abuse of power. The protest
in Ismayilli culminated on the first day, which means the protests
were less intense on January 24 and then completely ended the next
day. The true cause of the mass public protest was the behavior of
relatives of Ismayilli's mayor, Nizami Alakbarov, who had insulted
the local people following a traffic accident.
At a meeting with ministers and high-ranking government officials,
the president Ilham Aliyev ranted about the ostentatious behavior
of government officials' children and oppression of entrepreneurs in
the regions, and demanded they stop such actions. Aliyev added that
if they continued to behave in this way, they would be arrested and
their parents would be dismissed from their positions. Several days
after this speech, the president issued a decree dismissing Nizami
Alakbarov as Ismayilli's mayor.
Relevant state authorities have already discovered and recorded a
number of business objects (real assets, buildings and land plots)
in the Ismayilli region belonging to Minister Fuzuli Alakbarov and
Mayor Nizami Alakbarov, and investigations are ongoing to find out
whether these properties were obtained legally or illegally.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress